'Bobby Sky: Boy Band or Die' by Joe Shine is a good read that follows the adventures of Hutch as he is thrust into the world of a boy band. The action-packed storyline and snarky humor make it an entertaining escape for YA readers.

It was alright, I didn't connect with any characters nor was I that invested in the story, I had to dnf it

How can you resist that title? Combined with that cover you just have to give this book a shot. It ended up being a different read than I expected, it is darker and at times disturbing but still a riveting read that you won’t be able to put down.

“It’s okay if my story ends here, heck, maybe it’s supposed to. It has been a ride, I’ll give you that. I was betrayed, heartbroken, shot, stabbed, and run over. And that was just during my first year in the program. That’s not even the good stuff. How do plane crashes, death squads, car chases, and the Yakuza sound? Are you interested? If not, you need to seriously reevaluate what you are looking for in your entertainment needs, because that stuff should raise the eyebrow of a hairless cat.”

I liked Hutch/ Bobbly almost from the start. He is a bad boy with a heart of gold. He is also witty and smart, and his attitude often gets him in trouble, but it also gets him out of it at times to. The story starts with Hutch at fourteen but by the end he is 19 and an international rock star. How he gets there is pretty unbelievable, but through it all he manages to keep his heart and care about what happens to others, even those he doesn’t know. Even when the program destroys all of his friendships and threatens everyone he cares about he still does all he can to protect them.

FATE is one messed up place, and it is pretty brutal and cruel. At first Hutch refuses to hit a girl, but they beat that out of him. Through his 2 years there he has to kill or die. These are kids who were suppose to be dead anyways, so it doesn’t matter if they die during their training. Things are pretty bleak, but Hutch wants to survive and at times he enjoys his training, like when he learns to fly planes and all types of vehicles. He doesn’t want to hurt others, but he has to or be hurt himself. It is pretty messed up. I was happy when he was able to leave that life.

The story is all told by Hutch/Bobby in the first person, which makes it more personable. There are also some futuristic aspects to the story that puts it on the edge of science fiction. There is a drug that keeps all of the kids from feeling pain, useful when you are being beaten up on a daily basis. And then they use another device to bond you to your FIP, which is kind of messed up. If your FIP dies you lose your mind.

Because the plot covers a huge time span, there is not a lot of time devoted to his time in the Boy Band. I would have enjoyed reading about that part of his life a bit more. There are huge leaps in time, which were necessary but still jarring at times. Overall the plot was fascinating, fast paced and with some twists that made you want to keep reading. There was also a bit of a James Bond feel to the story, especially towards the end.

I thought this was a standalone, but discovered after reading it that there is another book that probably comes before the story in this one. Which now explains part of the ending that I was a little confused about. Bobby Sky can be read first, as I think it is a story separate from the first. But I will let you know after I read the first book, I Become Shadow. Hopefully there will be a third book, although there is nothing listed yet.

A gripping read for fans of James Bond or dark thrillers.

This was a fun read, but I had way more problems with it than positives. I really wanted to like it, but, alas, that was most definitely not the case. Bobby starts out as a 14 year old criminal-but-actually-a-good-kid-just-with-some-troubles, and ends up in juvie, where he is taken by a mysterious organization who claims they've just saved him from dying in prison. This organization is called FATE, where teens who were about to die are taken and given a second chance at life. Only, the chance they are given is to become Shadows who protect Future Important People. They undergo creepy shots that make them pain-free and training so violent and intense that only 5-10% of them even survive. Bobby finds out that his assignment is to protect a member of a Boy Band, Ryo, and to do so, he must himself become part of the boy band. What follows is a weird survival story where he is tracked down by operatives trying to kill him and the band, and he must go to great lengths to keep himself and Ryo alive.

The initial premise of the story was very interesting, as was the writing style, which is very quirky and fun. But, the story jumps around so much that it skips entire years, with only a few pages to describe the training at FATE, and the first year and a half of the boy band. This made the story feel very disjointed, and actually skipped over the parts that I thought I was signing up for when I started this book. The adventure/survival part took up a lot of time, and was so weirdly done that it was not really enjoyable to read. I wish that there had been more focus on the relationship between Bobby and Ryo, since the fact that Bobby was linked to Ryo was not expanded on enough to care about Ryo as much as I was maybe supposed to. The violence is also waaay more than I was expecting, and was pretty hard to digest, especially mixed with the tone of the book being more upbeat and quirky.
I also had a problem throughout the book of vague and not so vague sexist undertones. Bobby/Hutch states at the beginning that a girl crying is his kryptonite (damsel in distress much?), even though he's such a tough guy etc etc and that he could never hit a girl ever ever ever. He even keeps up this thought throughout his training by refusing to ever fight a girl, even if they are an equal match to him (he says he'll keep getting shot just to avoid it). The only female characters in the book are IMMEDIATELY sexualized (Bobby either asks them out, comments on how hot they are, etc), and their appearance basically serves as their main characteristic. They are also often the reason that he gets into hot water, so it feels almost like he feels like he's their savior (damsels in distress, again), but that it's also their fault that all this bad stuff keeps happening to him. It was very uncomfortable to read because of this.

I was hoping for something along the lines of Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick. Bobby Sky comes close, but starts coming apart at the seams towards the end. The book is nonstop action/spy/thriller shenanigans. It's a great premise with a snarky narrator, but it seems as though the book can't quite decide whether to embrace boy bands and pop culture or make fun of them. It's a good thing Bobby Sky (The Artist Formerly Known as Robert Hutchinson) is such entertaining company, because pretty much everyone else gets killed along the way. In fact, there's an astonishing amount of bloodshed over the course of the book. Fortunately, I suppose, most of the characters are fairly one-dimensional so that we don't miss them as they die off. It's all rather cartoonish fun, but that means there's not much emotional investment in the story. Presumably the next book will have Bobby Sky combining forces with fellow agent Ren Sharpe (first introduced in I Become Shadow).

How?!
HOW?!?
How can an author create a book that is a mixture of hilarious moments, action, and a coming-of-age tale?!

I'm not sure what wizardry happened to create this book, but I am so GLAD it happened. I finished Bobby Sky: Boy Band or Die in very few sittings, and I couldn't wait to get back to it each time I had to stop reading. What a fun book!

I read it not realizing it was something that takes place in the same universe as another of the author's books. Everything made sense alone. Actually, I didn't even realize it until I was preparing to write my review. But I did add that other book to my list.

This whole teen spy/protector/killer thing is quickly becoming one of my favorite sub-genres. Maybe because I always liked The Americans tv series or Charlie's Angels. Hutch is a protagonist that I may not identify much with, but I really liked following him around. He's smart, snarky, and the glamour of being a pop star was an interesting situation to place him in. The good news: there's not a lot of actual romance. There are bits and pieces here and there, but nothing overarching. I'm not a huge romance fan so it was great for me.

There is a twist at the end that I LOVED! I know some folks will not like it because they have to wait for book three, but I dig a good twist and cliffhanger.

I'm off to read book 1 in this universe - I Become Shadow.

Joe Shine does it again! This fast-paced futuristic spy thriller will draw reluctant readers in and keep them turning the pages. Fans of I Become Shadow will not be disappointed in this companion story about FATE. trained shadow “Hutch” Hutchinson, aka Bobby Sky, because “Ren’s going to need a little help taking down FATE.” This action packed page-turner will appeal to reluctant readers and fans of action stories. Everyone will be holding their breath for a third FATE story!
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